Wonder Woman Finally Coming to Television?

An image from Allan Heinberg's run on Wonder Woman. Art by Terry Dodson, copyright DC Comics

I wore my Wonder Woman sneakers at a writer’s conference last summer in Anaheim, California. Not being a fashion plate, I’m not used to comments on my clothes.

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I received more comments on those sneakers than anything I’ve ever worn. A Hilton Hotel employee that I shared an elevator with exclaimed: “I love Wonder Woman! And, hey, when are we getting a movie?”

I agreed it’s far past time.

But it seems we’re more likely to see Wonder Woman on the small screen first than the big screen. A proposed Justice League movie, possibly shepherded by Guillermo Del Toro, is still only in the planning stages with an estimated date of arrival of at least 2014. But according to the Hollywood Reporter, the CW network is currently waiting on a script for the proposed Amazon series, which would focus on Princess Diana’s early years after her arrival from America, possibly as a high school student in the present day.

In September, the Hollywood Reporter said the script was being written by Allan Heinberg, a television writer who also created the Young Avengers for Marvel Entertainment and wrote a somewhat less successful Wonder Woman run for DC Comics.

Last year, Emmy-winning producer David E. Kelley’s version of Wonder Woman for television went as far as a (much-derided) pilot starring actress Adrianne Palicki, who was one of the best things, perhaps the only good thing, about the show.

Rumors on various sites say CW’s Diana Prince will not be in costume and the focus will be on her coming of age, which makes sense for the youth-oriented network. It’s also that true that the costume, which mostly works in comic art, can come across as very silly in live action. I can only hope CW’s treatment finally does the Amazon warrior princess credit, as Kelley’s did not.

Still, if this happens and there are no costumes, a part of me will miss the Lynda Carter patented spin transformation.